Hold Me
by alreadyinhell
Summary: Pre-relationship Foxxay. Promt from lalaleigh, Cordelia helps clean Misty up after her fight with Madison.


_Author's note: This one's from a prompt I was given for something about Cordelia helping clean Misty up after the fight with Madison. Thank you to the prompter because I've been dying to write something like this for these two. Haha, anyway, enjoy!_

Cordelia's cane rattled against the ground as she made her way upstairs, headed to her room - mind full with attempts to process the death of her mother - when she heard a muffled stream of curses leaking through one of the closed doors. Recognising the voice to be Misty's, she pushed aside all thoughts of her mother and made her way towards the source of the profanity, feeling slightly guilty for not thinking to come sooner.

_The girl literally died for Christ's sake, this is no time to waste mourning a woman who never gave a damn about you anyway._

Misty stood hunched over the sink, muttering away to herself as she furiously scrubbed the blood from her hands. She was so immersed in the activity that she didn't hear the headmistress' approach.

"Misty?"

The younger witch practically jumped at the sound of her name, pain shooting through her side from some injury leftover from her fight with Madison. Cordelia frowned as she heard her cry out in pain.

"Miss Cordelia, I'm sorry if I disturbed you - I'd hardly even realised I was talkin' to myself there, I'm just tryin' ta get myself cleaned up after earlier."

The usually so relaxed-sounding drawl of the swamp witch was coming across strained, laced through with anger, and the older woman was overcome with a need to help, to calm the younger witch, she'd been through so much after all.

"No, no, don't be silly, I was passing and thought I'd check in was all. Are you hurt?"

The older woman felt Misty sit down somewhere to her left, a pained gasp escaping her lips as she did so.

"It's nothin' really, seems Hollywood down there got one good hit in after all."

"Can I take a look at it?"

Cordelia grimaced at her poor choice of words, apparently readjusting her phrasebook would take more effort than she'd thought.

"What I mean to say is, can I touch you, there?"

She heard the other woman's breath hitch and hastily added

"Where the injury is, I mean. I'm not entirely sure how it works yet but I think the sight may be able to give me some indication as to the severity of the bruising."

Misty breathed a sigh of relief as she watched a blush creep across Cordelia's features, suppressing the urge to giggle at the headmistress' poor choice of words.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Misty shrugged and paused, thinking over how she felt about the headmistress' touch before continuing, suddenly bashful as she realised the awkward positioning of her injury,

"I mean, the pain's comin' from my back, an I'm wearin' a dress an' all… But I figure me strippin' isn't really that much of an issue if you can't actually see me, I mean, if you don't mind an' everything. I could really do with a little help relievin' the pain…"

She paused for a second, fearing she'd overstepped her bounds.

"If you'd feel uncomfortable you don't have to or anythin'-"

"Misty." Cordelia cut her off, a small smile playing on her lips at the younger woman's babbling,

"I'd be more than happy to help."

Misty smiled at the other woman's kindness, moving to untie her dress, a twinge of pain shot through her back and her anger was rekindled. Her head was once again swimming with visions of the day Madison shut her in that damn coffin, visions of the axeman. As she looked down at the blood spattered across the clothing she held in her hands her anger once again grew, this time at herself, she'd had a hand in killing someone, a real life human being, and it was partly due to her that he was dead. She turned to Cordelia, practically spitting out the words,

"Y'know, if I'd had to have had my hand in the murder of a human bein', I'm glad it was someone as disgustin' as him. Although I wish it had been that god damn Hollywood witch bitch."

She threw her bloodied clothing to the floor, moving towards Cordelia, ignoring both the pain running through her body and her current exposed state.

"That damn girl has it coming to her an' I swear if she ever tries to cross me again I'll finish what I started in that living room today. An' I'm sorry Miss Cordelia but neither you or anyone else is gonna be able to stop me."

She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration before dropping herself down onto the edge of the bathtub.

Cordelia waited a moment before replying, almost under her breath,

"I wouldn't dream of even trying."

It made her angrier than she'd ever thought it would that Madison had hurt Misty, had actually succeeded in killing Misty - however brief her death had been. Misty who showed nothing but kindness, Misty who she felt was one of the few people she could trust around here. Yes, Madison has it coming.

She made her way over to where she could feel Misty to be, following the sound of the younger woman's breath - heavy with anger - before kneeling before her. Letting out a nervous laugh, she spoke

"Now, I really don't have any idea if this will actually work, if all else fails at least I've always been good with my hands"

Misty felt her anger dissipating at the older woman's kindness and a smile spread across her face.

_You may well be good with your hands Miss Cordelia but ya sure as hell have a talent for findin' the worst possible way to phrase things._

She reached out her hands to the headmistress', guiding them to her back.

Cordelia gritted her teeth as the younger woman's hands came into contact with her own and she was bombarded with visions; being trapped in a coffin - oxygen almost nonexistent, breathing her last breath, waking up and seeing Cordelia's face - for a second she thought it was an angel, beating the shit out of Madison, stabbing the axeman.

Her breath was laboured as she came back to the real world, Misty's hands clutching hers almost protectively.

"What did ya see?"

The younger witch's voice sounded almost anxious, contrary to popular belief there really were some things in her head that she didn't want anyone to know about, a fair few of them regarding the way she thought about the woman kneeling in front of her.

"Nothing I didn't already know. You truly are a woman of no secrets, Misty Day."

The swamp witch laughed as Cordelia smiled up at her,

"Oh I have a few, they're just not so important clearly, not gettin' picked up by those all seein' eyes a' yours."

The headmistress cocked her head to the side, intrigued by the younger witch before her. She realised that they'd never really had a proper conversation, not about themselves or life outside of magic, and was overcome with a desire to know more about this person, this 'mysterious' Misty Day.

"Like what?"

Misty let out another laugh,

"Well now Miss 'Delia, I can't tell you that, else they wouldn't be secrets" she said coyly.

Cordelia could practically feel the twinkle in the other woman's eye as her heartbeat started to race slightly, thrilled by the conversation between the two. She raised an eyebrow before continuing, mocking the ominous tone she'd used with countless others,

"I'll see it eventually you know…"

Marvelling at how carefree she felt, she began to laugh along with the younger woman, relieved to feel human again.

"Now, where's this bruising of yours?"

Misty, still clutching the other woman's hands, loosened her grip slightly and began to guide them to her back, trying to push any and all thoughts that were slightly inappropriate to the back of her mind.

Cordelia's fingers were cold and as they moved across Misty's back the younger woman felt her breath hitch. The contact was causing her skin to raise in goosebumps and she hoped to god that the older woman couldn't feel that. Pondering over the way Cordelia gently caressed her back, she thought for a minute about how she'd never been touched this way, so soft and gentle. Maybe when she was a baby, before her family had suspected, but after that it was all harsh glances and rough grasps.

She allowed herself to enjoy the other woman's touch, although she knew she probably shouldn't. But then, how could something that could soothe her soul, that felt so healing and tender, possibly be wrong.

Misty exhaled shakily, trying to keep her composure, although she felt like she might just melt into a puddle at Cordelia's feet.

"Am I hurting you? Just tell me if-"

Cordelia let out a gasp as another vision washed over her: a young girl with wild blonde hair and a tear stained face, an older man knelt before her, grasping her wrist with white knuckles and yelling in her face, there was a strange resemblance between the two. She struggled, trying to run, but he wouldn't let go, his shouts were relentless. Several scenes flashed by, each roughly the same, sometimes with a woman in place of the man, dragging the girl along to a bathtub, muttering something about a needing to be cleansed.

The older woman found herself breathing heavily as she returned to the present, feeling guilty for the invasion of the swamp witch's privacy and yet overcome with the urge to wrap her arms around the younger woman. She refrained, remembering Misty's exposed state, and was torn between pretending she'd seen nothing and comforting the younger witch about what she'd seen. There were a few seconds of silence between the two and Cordelia decided she couldn't take it anymore,

"Misty, your parents-"

"Don't. Please Miss Cordelia, it don't matter anymore, I've spent too damn long cryin' over those _assholes_, but it don't matter anymore, it's all in the past. And besides, I've got the likes a' you now."

She couldn't bring herself to look at the older woman's face, not being able to stand the pity she would see there, but she smiled down at her hands nonetheless.

"I- I think I might've finally found my tribe. Here with you, I mean."

A smile slowly spread across Cordelia's features and she put a supportive hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

"I'm glad. You're strong Misty, so strong."

Once again silence fell over the two and they just sat for a while, enjoying the company.

Misty's thoughts had returned to the axeman, now that the anger was gone she felt strangely sober, and the weight of his death hung heavy over her head.

"I helped kill a man today, I'm a bad person."

Cordelia heard the way the younger woman's voice broke as she spoke and reached a hand out to her face, finding it wet with tears. Knowing that the younger woman was so upset by something that could generally be considered a good deed tore her up inside and an innate need to comfort her came through.

Placing a hand on each side of the younger woman's face, mostly so that she was able to accurately judge where it was, Cordelia moved so that the two were facing each other. She made a small attempt at wiping tears away with her thumb, and as she spoke she felt MIsty's hands come up to touch hers before resting on her arms. The younger woman was shaking from the tears and she almost broke down herself but she knew she had to stay strong, having no idea why the younger witch's misery was affecting her in such a way.

"Please believe me when I say this, you are not a bad person. Hell, you're probably the best damn person who's ever walked into this house."

Misty's arms had made their way to her shoulders now, and she found the younger woman's forehead to be pressed against her own.

"That man was a killer, the body count under his name far outweighs the fact that he's dead. He killed my mother for Christ's sake, not that all that many people will be mourning her. But my point is, Misty, you're a good person, probably the only truly good person I've ever known, and the majority of people would probably say that by helping wipe out that son of a bitch you've done the world a favour."

The shaking sobs had subsided at the older woman's words, but she could still feel a steady stream of tears running down Misty's cheeks. Cordelia's heart seemed to fracture a little every time another fell, and so she found herself moving her lips to the younger woman's forehead, planting a kiss there. She noted the sharp intake of breath by the younger woman as her lips made contact, the way that her arms - that had made their way to her waist by now - tightened their grip.

Cordelia found her heart racing at the embrace she was in, and by what seemed to be instinct she moved her lips down to the other woman's cheek, planting another kiss. Again, Misty seemed to pull her closer, and being closer was something she seemed to crave. Her hands had moved around the younger witch's neck now, and she could feel that wild blonde hair ticking her fingers. The two women found their lips practically touching, hovering there for a minute just enjoying the sensation before finally crashing together.

The first kiss was messy and rough, Cordelia could taste the salt from the younger woman's tears, her face still sticky with them, and yet an unfamiliar feeling washed over her. It felt like very nerve ending in her body was on fire, or someone punching right through her chest, but without the pain, she just felt giddy, it was exhilarating. She felt more alive in those moments than she had ever experienced before. _This _was how kissing was supposed to feel, _this _was what's supposed to happen.

Her hands knotted in Misty's hair as she heard the other woman breathe her name, deepening the kiss.

Rough as the first kiss had been, the ones that followed were anything but. Breathless and gentle, their lips barely grazed each other. Hands that had forcefully pulled the two together now settled into tender caresses.

When they finally pulled apart both found themselves in a strange state that somehow managed to be a mix of serene and restless. Hearts pounding.

"Miss Cordelia…"

Misty's voice sounded huskier than usual as she looked at the other woman with wide eyed honesty.

"…I think I might be in love with you"

Cordelia laughed and leaned her head against the other woman's shoulder.

"Then we can probably drop the 'Miss.'"


End file.
